Yellow Dress

Summer Colour

This summer I’ve updated my wardrobe. I’m mainly wearing dresses – the looser and more billowy the better. I’ve been coveting longer dresses in pale yellow. Like the Cressida dress from By Malene Birger. It’s a beautiful yellow sand shade, made from a combination of viscose and wool. And currently on sale. Toteme have a lovely slouch waist dress in a beached sand colour. The slouchy top falls in a beautiful shape. Blending together linen and viscose, I imagine it sits well on the body. I’d be interested to see if the linen remains crease free, I don’t fancy ironing the slouch!

All the dresses have similar colours but the cutest shade names. I’ve seen vanilla cream, soft white, ivory, oyster and macadamia in recent searches. As well as the sandy names. It’s pretty close to the 2023 Dulux colour of the year – a pale organic yellow called Wild Wonder.

In the end I went for a voluminous v neck dress from Cos. It’s made from tencel modal, recycled polyester with a 100% organic cotton lining. It’s very soft while still feeling structured. And it is so hard to find a dress with a lining let alone one that isn’t crappy polyester at this price point. It’s in an ivory shade but looks more pale yellow to me.

The ivory/pale yellow works well with these creamy white earrings. They are the pearl drop earring from LUA Studios. Handmade in London. They remind me of flower petals, I opened the box in May when our cherry blossom was in full bloom and the petals were falling everywhere. I’m thinking of buying the orchid waves next..

Pearl harvesting is something I wish I didn’t look into. However there is the option of sustainable pearls which allow pearl producing mollusks to be cared for under appropriate conditions. This means the industry doesn’t allow over farming and contributes to a healthier environment. Finding sustainably harvested pearls is a bit of a hit or miss. I’m not sure I believe any of the claims of online jewellers to be honest. It’s definitely something I want to look closer at.

When buying jewellery I usually look to brands that make their jewellery in-house. Although this isn’t a guarantee they are using ethical materials, it does mean they are in charge of production.

Wine in a can. I received a can of wine as part of a gift and finally got around to trying it. Verdict – it was good! Both lighter to transport and easy to recycle – sustainably it gets a thumbs up. The smaller portion and fun designs on the can means I would likely buy them again. I’m thinking a summer drink in the garden rather than cracking open a whole wine bottle.

I’ve been eyeing up the wine from Uncommon, the packaging art is cute. The spritzer is an idea for a lighter option and they are apparently the first certified B corp winemaker in the UK.

Midsummer this year was marked with the arrival of the Summer 23 Ffern perfume. They blend a new bottle of perfume every quarter season. This summer incorporates peach, rose and the osmanthus flower. The brand have resurrected my love for fragrance after years of avoiding synthetic chemical smells from mass produced perfume.

I’ve been walking the dogs every week at the beach throughout the summer. If I go early enough it’s practically deserted. It’s brilliant for recharging the batteries. I’m hoping to continue going into the autumn and winter too. Although I wore a winter coat this morning, I might need an arctic suit by the time winter comes along!

For more sustainable fashion

100 Ways to Embrace Sustainable Fashion

Fancy more reading? What about eco workout leggings and summer linen tops?

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